Residents of Sheffield and adjoining areas in Westmoreland were engaged in the construction of a bus shelter and pedestrian crossing to serve the more than 500 students of the Sheffield All-age School as well as community persons.

This was the Westmoreland Parish Project for Labour Day 2012 and was among the 42 registered projects carried out under the theme: ‘Step Forward … Make Jamaica beautiful’.

Mayor of Savanna-La-Mar and Chairman of the Westmoreland Parish Council, Bertel Moore, who was out early, told JIS News that work started earlier in the week to ensure that the project would be completed today.

He said the area is badly in need of the bus shelter, noting that the students in particular experience, “great inconvenience” especially when it rains.

“They (the students) have to walk approximately a quarter mile from the main road to the school and when it is raining, they experience serious difficulties, so that’s why we have decided to erect a bus shelter there.

“We have gone a far way with the project and because of the pre-Labour Day work, we hope to have it completed today. I am very sure that this facility will be very beneficial to the students of the school as well as the many citizens living in and around Sheffield,” Mayor Moore told JIS News.

He expressed satisfaction at the level of support from citizens on the project.

Minister of Tourism and Member of Parliament for Western Westmoreland, Hon. Dr. Wykeham McNeil, said he was happy for the support from the citizens for the school, which opened last year.

“We discovered the challenge they (students) face each time it rains and felt that it must be an imperative that these students have an appropriate place to shelter whenever it is raining. We have also decided that we were going to put a pedestrian crossing across the roadway to allow the students to cross and at the same time, we will be creating two lay-bys, which will allow the cars to drop off and pick up without impeding the general traffic flow,” Dr. McNeil told JIS News.

“It’s a fairly extensive project and is proceeding very well… we have received very good support from community members and business organisations from across the parish. We have come a long way with this project and I am hoping that we will be able to complete it today”, he added.

Over in Hanover, there was a flurry of activities as residents came out to work on the parish project, which is the cleaning up of the Lucea Cemetery and painting of the perimeter wall.

More than 74 projects were registered to be undertaken in St. Elizabeth, including the parish project, which is the cleaning and beautification of the town of Black River.